Direct connections to ArcSDE geodatabases

This post was written by Kim Peter, a product engineer on the geodatabase team, and is a follow up to her post on Connections to 9.3 Geodatabases

There are two types of connections you can make to ArcSDE geodatabases: direct connections or connections through an ArcSDE service. This post deals with making direct connections to ArcSDE geodatabases with ArcGIS clients, where the ArcGIS client and ArcSDE geodatabase are from different releases.

You may have heard that to make direct connections from an ArcGIS client, you no longer need to have the client software and the geodatabase at the same release. This is true for ArcGIS 9.2 service pack 5 (SP5) or SP6 clients making a connection to an ArcSDE 9.3 geodatabase and for ArcGIS 9.3 clients making direct connections to an ArcSDE 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, or 9.3 geodatabase.

Here’s some information you need to successfully set up these inter-release direct connections.

• You must perform a separate installation to get the direct connect drivers necessary to make these connections.
• The setup to obtain the 9.0, 9.1, and 9.2 direct connect drivers is called ArcGIS Pre-9.3 GDB Direct Connect Setup and is included on your 9.3 client media along with an installation guide.

• The setup to obtain the 9.3 drivers needed to make a direct connection from an ArcGIS 9.2 SP5 or SP6 client to an ArcSDE 9.3 geodatabase must be downloaded from the ESRI support site Patches and Service packs download page. This setup is called ArcGIS 9.3 GDB Direct Connect for 9.2 Clients Setup. An installation guide for this setup is also provided with the download.

• The ArcSDE 9.0, 9.1, or 9.2 geodatabase to which you are making a direct connection must have the latest service packs applied. Check the ESRI support site’s download page for the latest service pack for each release.

• Direct connections from an ArcGIS 9.3 client to an ArcSDE 9.0, 9.1, or 9.2 geodatabase for Informix is not supported.

• Direct connections from an ArcGIS 9.3 client to an ArcSDE 9.0 geodatabase for Oracle 8i are not supported.

• When you connect to a geodatabase on an ArcSDE database server (an ArcSDE geodatabase for SQL Server Express), you always make a direct connection. Be aware that the upgrade procedure for ArcSDE geodatabases for SQL Server Express will differ depending on whether or not you have the 9.2 direct connect drivers installed. See Upgrading geodatabases on ArcSDE database servers in the help to see how to upgrade these geodatabases. (Note that at 9.3 final release there is a bug that will prevent you from upgrading the geodatabase if you have the 9.2 direct connect drivers installed. If you want to upgrade the geodatabase, do it from an ArcGIS 9.3 client that does not have the 9.2 direct connect driver installed.)

• You should also read the help topics, Compatibility between clients and geodatabases and Client and geodatabase compatibility for additional notes and restrictions on interoperable releases. (The second topic has information on file and personal geodatabases as well as ArcSDE geodatabases.)

For information on connections, see An overview of ArcSDE geodatabase connections and Properties of a direct connection.